Etienne Boulanger
lives life to the fullest through a noble and arduous artistic practice,
giving his all. He has the conviction which gives him the strength to
work day after day, from morning to night, his hands in plaster of paris,
covered in dust and head held high. The conviction which gives him the
courage and the desire to live life dangerously and to the fullest at
the four corners of the earth. Shaping his art.
Nancy, Metz, Forbach, Strasbourg, Dijon, Orleans, Brest... Osijek, Vukovar,
Zagreb, Tuzla, Sarajevo, Berlin, Beijing, Shangai, Hong Kong, Luxembourg,
Sarrebruck, Vienna, Tokyo, Karlsruhe, Trier, Bucarest, New York...

Etienne Boulanger
constantly fights against the standardization of our lives, he fights
against everything being rationalized, against consumerism, against insidious
power, against authority. He ardently defends the right to be different,
alternative, a rebel, clandestine, and free. On closer examination, Etienne
Boulanger optimizes an infinite subversive potential. His works conveyhis
acute view of the evolution of society and the benevolent sign that addresses
the insignificance of our lives.

His work is based
on a tried and tested method, which consists of exploring, observing,
elaborating, intervening and sometimes living his work. Rigor, adaptation,
and commitment are also involved in the process.

In 2001, after graduating
from the Nancy's Fine Arts School, Etienne Boulanger went to Berlin where
he stayed for two years. Barely enough time to set up a project hence
just as crazy as ambitious : Plug in Berlin.
This project consisted of living in micro-spaces in the urban landscape
which were too narrow or too awkward to be used for real estate projects.
These unusable areas became free spaces for Etienne Boulanger to take
over - pockets of resistance. That's where he actually built shelters
which could not be seen from the outside, in which he illegally spent
several nights. He lived this way, moving from one shelter to another
for more than a year, symbolically taking over these urban spaces. He
experiences an urban nomadic lifestyle which did not cut him off from
the world, but on the contrary, really took the world on-board, making
it his playground.

When he came back
to France after this experimental episode, Etienne Boulanger created the
display to show the results of his Berlin period: interactive maps, photographs,
videos. The steps of his work, which he entitled Temporary archives,
are then shown in the city open spaces. He invaded, for few days a storefront
in Metz and built one of his ephemeral constructions. That's where he
presents his artwork, shares and speaks about it with intelligence and
shows to the world the presence of an artist radically committed to his
art.

Etienne Boulanger's
interest in large urban changes took him to China, in 2004. Four years
before the world had its eyes fixed on Beijing, he was exploring the capital
of China observing the plans meant to destroy the working-class areas,
the surveillance systems of the Olympic Games worksites, and the busy
traffic in this city which moves with the current. In China, Etienne Boulanger
played the parasite game - disapproval, which didn't aim to stop the irreversible
process but rather constrain it on a symbolic level. A gesture. A pile
of bricks. A tarpaulin pulled across. Traffic diverted. Or stopped. A
neighbourhood cut off. Fortified. Protected.

In 2005, back in France
for a few months Etienne Boulanger fully invested himself in several projects,
particularly a personal exposition at the Interface Gallery in Dijon.
After spending his time exploring large cities and pirating public spaces,
he found himself closed up in a Gallery where he was involved in a process
of « cancelling space ». For several weeks Etienne Boulanger
worked and erected more than thirty meters of walls until the space became
mute and blind. Then he methodologically ripped these walls open, pierced
through them to create a pathway, and destroyed what others might have
seen as a finished piece of work. He design a landscape of ruins.

In 2006, Etienne Boulanger
was recovering from a knee injury in spite of still suffering from a knee
injury (the result of an accident during his Dijon work). In spite of
this, he finished the residence he had started in 2005 with the Frac Alsace
and Frac Lorraine. He was then working on borders, on the presence of
different types of forces in the Shengen zone, which is supposed to be
freed from controls. Then he went back to Beijing for several months.

In 2007, he came back
to France, in Orleans, for a residence in Mixar. He built a series of
brilliant original and subversive works, which fitted in well with the
sculptures which had been officially ordered for the tramway line. He
defined his own space by positioning himself in a simple matter.

2007 was also the
year of an outstanding project, which he carried out in Berlin : Single
Room Hotel. A hotel room which is camouflaged by billboards. A fully
equipped 22 square meter 2 star hotel room was built on a wasteland. The
German press and television took up the story. Etienne's work really fascinates
and surprises. The room was fully booked for the duration of the project.

Because of the abundance
and diversity of his young career, in 2007 Etienne Boulanger was awarded
the prestigious Edward Steichen Award in Luxembourg. This award took him
in 2008 to New York for 6 months, to the ISCP: International Studio and
Curatorial Program.
In New York, he relentlessly worked for months on making his first monograph,
a catalog of his work. He had the backing of three Regional Contemporary
Art Funds: Frac Alsace, Frac Burgundy and Frac Lorraine. The ISCP open
studios, which were to take place in New York, would have been a unique
opportunity for him to speak over and over again about his work.

Etienne Boulanger's
career was at that point, already well on track and full of energy. His
life and his art, everything was ahead of him. For us, it was obvious.
There was no doubt about it, we had projects, we were ready...

Interventions
en territoires flottants is a monographic catalog which deals with
Etienne Boulanger’s work.
Compiled by the artist, this edition gathers a selection of interventions
achieved between 2001 and 2008 in the public environment and diverse exhibition
spaces.
In cities in the midst of transformation, such as in Berlin and in Beijing,
Etienne Boulanger notably worked in micro-spaces, wastelands, abandoned
construction sites or more generally, in transitional zones. These contexts
gave rise to a quasi-strategic reflection on processes of infiltration,
location and interference of vacant spaces, in particular by the integration
of short-lived structures.
Relying on numerous drawings and photographic reproductions, this book
features various authors chosen by Etienne Boulanger. They pursue his
reflection on notions of habitat and transience, and raise issues relating
to the strategic occupation of a territory.

Association
Etienne Boulanger

The Association
Etienne Boulanger (non-profit organization ruled by 1901's french
law) has been created on March 17, 2009.

The purpose of the
association is the conservation and communication of Etienne Boulanger’s
artworks. It also aims to desseminate and present his work in art spaces,
or venues for culture and education (schools of art, architecture…).
The association acts via the web site, through realization and publication
of editions, exhibitions and conferences. As well as displays of reenacting
his works, including the post production of works initially conceived
by Etienne Boulanger.